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 * Unit 3 SAC 1 Parliament and the Citizen**

Here's a sample of a great answer.

Australia has adopted its legal system from the United Kingdom. We inherited the Westminster system and its features. One of the features of the Westminster system is the principle of responsible and representative government. Representative government refers to a government that characterises the views of the majority of the people. This is maintained by holding regular elections. Responsible government refers to the minster’s accountabililty in parliament and then parliament’s accountability to the people. Therefore ministers are responsible to the people One of the other features is the bicameral structure of parliament. This means that Parliament is split into two houses, an upper and a lower house. At the federal level the lower house is called the House of Representatives. This is where government is formed. Second is the upper house, called the senate. This is a very thorough answer. The only thing missing is the reference to the Governor General as the Queen’s representative. DON’T FORGET THE QUEEN IS PART OF OUR PARLIAMENT!!! The Senate has two roles; one is to act as a ‘house of review’. This means the senate reviews legislation which has been passed by the lower house before it can become a law. The other role of the senate is to act as a states house. Senators are elected according to the states interests not their political parties. Senators must then vote in the interests of their states. However in practice Senator’s vote with their parties which means they are not fulfilling their role as a States house. This was regarded as a difficult question because it asks you for the ‘role’ of the Upper House when in fact there are TWO roles. You would not get full marks unless you discuss both roles. I would only query the statement ‘senators are elected according to their states interests – on the ballot paper they are listed in parties. You could overcome this by saying ORIGINALLY this was the case. The bodies that govern Australia have been divided into three separate bodies which each have specific powers. This is known as the separation of powers. The powers are legislative power, which is the power to make laws, executive power, which entails running the business of government, and judicial powers which refer to the act of upholding the law. These powers are given to different people. Legislative power is given to parliament, judicial power is given to the courts and executive powers are given to the governor general but in practice are carried out by the cabinet. The separation of powers is essential as is maintains the democracy by which we are governed. It effectively prevents absolute power being given to one body which can lead to corruption. Thorough. Accurate. It is essential to mention that separation of powers prevents corruption. It is part of the reason why we have such a stable and honest government system in such a stable and honest democracy. Representative government refers to a government that must represent the views of the majority of people. This principle is important in our legal system because it helps to maintain a democracy. If a government does not represent the views of the people it is likely to be voted out at the next election. This was seen in the 2007 election. Responsible government refers to ministerial accountability. This is ministers are responsible for the action of their departments and therefore the people. Recently minster for the environment Peter Garrett launched an insulation rebate scheme through his department. However the scheme was underanalysed and resulted in the death of four people and many house fires. Under the principle of responsible government, Mr Garret should resign. To be perfect, the answer should state that Mr Garrett is responsible even though he did not necessarily know about the flaws in the scheme, but under this doctrine he is deemed to have known. But there is certainly enough detail for the one mark. Individuals and groups have the ability to change the law. One way in which they can do this is through the media. Through either newspapers, radio or television, individuals and groups can voice their concerns to the wider community. Television programs such as “A Current Affair” host dramatic interviews which influence the community. This method may not be effective in changing the law directly, as politicians may see such programs as over dramatic and rating matters, but the media influences the community. Therefore the number of people who support the cause may increase. The increase in community support may lead parliament to changing the laws. Therefore it can be concluded that the media is effective in changing laws indirectly. This was seen in 1991 when a 2 year old was killed by child abuse. The herald Sun posted an article to raise awareness of the child abuse laws and the need for them to be amended. The community responded and the law regarding the reporting of child abuse was amended. The opening statement could be regarded as a bit global. Adding ‘ability to influence change’ would be better. But then the answer goes on to explain how this happens and to give an example which is valid. In fact the death of Daniel Valerio led to mandatory reporting by teachers, which was and is a huge issue in schools and families. Parliament may seek the opinion of formal law reform bodies before changing the law. One example of a formal law reform body is the Australian law Reform Commission. (ALRC), established in 1975. The ALRC is separate from the federal parliament in every aspect except funding. The ALTC investigates Commonwealth law, that is law that governs the whole of Australia. The Attorney general submits as reference to investigate an area of law. The ALRC then holds inquiries into that area of law and often it requests public submissions. The evidence or findings are compiled and forwarded to parliament. The ALRC is very effective. It is effective because it conducts public enquiries and collects public submissions, therefore its findings and suggestions to parliament represent the views of the majority of people. It is also proven to be effective because 80% of the ALRC’s suggestions become new law or amend current law. However the ALRC is not effective because not every citizen of Australia is aware of how to make public submissions. Therefore their findings may not accurately reflect a cross section of the community. To improve the ALRC should consider publicising its website in the media to raise awareness. It could also publicise its suggestions to parliament so that the community can see the ALRC’s work and if it does represent the views of the community. Carefully read how the discussion has been worded here. The answer gives two reasons why the ALRC IS effective, a reason why it may not be and makes suggestions to improve it. The question asks for evaluation. THIS is evaluation! One strength of parliament is that law can be made proficiently and swiftly. I think efficiently is the correct word here. This means that if a new issue arises overseas of an issue breaks out in Australia that has the potential to harm the community, parliament is able to create a law to preserve the safety of society. This was seen when the ‘mad cow’ disease broke out overseas. Australia swiftly tightened quarantine laws to prevent the harm of the people. A further reference to how laws are passed quickly – eg Parliament can have the law drafted, and pass the three readings in the lower house and send the bill to the upper house within days if necessary. One weakness of parliament is that drafting legislation can be difficult. When drafting, the parliamentary Counsel must ensure that there are no loopholes. This can be hard to achieve for several reasons. This sentence is a bit waffly. One of which being that the meaning of works changes over time, therefore creating legislation that is hard to interpret. Another reason many be that the parliamentary counsel misinterpret the relevant ministers idea for a Bill and create a draft that is hard to understand. Legislation that is hard to interpret may be challenged in court which results in expensive trials. For example a man challenged ‘failure to stop” fine because of a loophole in legislation meant that the sign he failed to stop at was not legally seen as a stop sign. He case led to the dismissal of many fines that cost the government lots of money. In this case, the government just amended the legislation and made it retrospective, so they didn’t actually lose any money!
 * Describe two major features of the Westminster system. (2) **
 * Outline the role of the Upper House in Australia’s parliamentary system (2) **
 * Explain the term ‘separation of powers” Why is it an essential feature of our system of government? (2 + 2) **
 * Explain the term representative and responsible government. Give an example of either representative or responsible government in action. 2 + 1 **
 * Describe one method that individuals/groups can use to bring about changes in the law. How effective is this method in actually changing the law? 1 + 2 **
 * Describe one formal law reform body and evaluate its effectiveness in law reform 2 + 4 **
 * Note the mark allocation. 4 is a lot of marks out of a total of the 26 for this part of the paper. Therefore accurate detail is essential **
 * Discuss one strength and one weakness of law making by parliament. 2+2 **